Summer is almost here and that means Belly and the Fisher boys will soon be returning to your screen.
The Summer I Turned Pretty, which made its debut in 2022, is an adaptation of the book trilogy of the same name written by Jenny Han (To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before). The series follows teenage Belly Conklin, who travels to her mom’s best friend’s beach house in Cousins every summer. Aside from the luxury of living on the beach for three months, Belly mostly looks forward to seeing her childhood crush, Conrad Fisher.
Returning to Cousins as a 15-going-on-16-year-old, Belly is determined to have Conrad see her in a new, adult light. But while she struggles to win his attention, she ends up meeting a new summer boy while also developing feelings for Conrad’s brother, Jeremiah. Now caught in a bit of a love triangle, Belly has to figure out whether to follow her head or her heart.
Although we instantly recognize the stars for their roles in the show, much of the cast was fairly new to the industry, especially starring in a TV show with such success. Get to know the stars of The Summer I Turned Pretty and see where you might recognize them from!
Lola Tung
Character Played: Isabelle “Belly” Conklin
Born: October 28, 2002, New York, New York
Best Known For: While The Summer I Turned Pretty is Tung’s first role, she is set to appear in the upcoming film, I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “I think [the show] is just about love in all forms,” Tung explained. “It’s helped me have a better understanding of love in [how] it addresses romantic love, familial love, friendship, self-love … [just]every form of love in such a meaningful and in-depth way. I’ve learned a lot from Belly, and I hope that people also feel that and can feel the love and learn from the love on the show. A lot of love went into the project and a lot of love came out of it.”
Christopher Briney
Character Played: Conrad Fisher
Born: March 24, 1998, in Danbury, Connecticut
Best Known For: Daliland (2022) and Mean Girls (2024)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “They are just destined for each other, in my mind, and they’re just very compatible people,” Briney said of his character Conrad and Belly. “They’re childhood friends, and in this [fictional] world, fate, destiny and childhood dreams come true, and I think that magic is why they have to be together. It just is the way it’s supposed to be.”
Gavin Casalegno
Character Played: Jeremiah Fisher
Born: September 2, 1999, Dallas, Texas
Best Known For: The Vampire Diaries (2015), Walker (2021) and Queen of the Ring (2024)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “I think Jeremiah matures so much [this season] and he kind of puts his big boy pants on and has to deal with some tough stuff,” Casalegno explained. “How he deals with it is a learning process, but I think he ends up doing pretty well for himself.”
Sean Kaufman
Character Played: Steven Conklin
Born: June 22, 2000, New York, New York
Best Known For: Law & Order: SVU (2018), Manifest (2018) and FBI: Most Wanted (2021-2024)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “I went up for Steven right away,” Kaufman said about his audition. “I just kind of fell in love with his character. I think he has such a big heart, and I relate to his relationship with Belly a lot, with my own relationship with my younger sister. It really helped me connect and understand the character off of two sides without even getting a script.”
Rain Spencer
Character Played: Taylor Jewel
Born: February 21, 2000, Germany
Best Known For: Good Girl Jane (2022), A Better Paradise Volume One: An Aftermath (2024) and Test Screening (2024)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “I was extremely excited [about season 2] because Taylor has a lot of walls up around her,” Spencer explained. “She has a lot of defense mechanisms and doesn’t let a lot of people in. She puts on this persona to be left alone because she’s so scared of her own emotions. She only has a soft spot for two people, and the main one is Belly… but the other one’s Steven. Steven is to Taylor what Conrad is to Belly.”
Jackie Chung
Character Played: Laurel Park
Born: 1979
Best Known For: Someone Else (2015), Grey’s Anatomy (2017) and Station 19 (2019)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “I liked Laurel right away,” Chung explained. “I think her humor is so funny. One of the things I share with the character is our similar humor. So I was excited about it… I love seeing this girl figuring out her life and who she is, and the romance, and love, and also the friendship between Laurel and Susannah and how deep it is.”
Rachel Blanchard
Character Played: Susannah Fisher
Born: March 19, 1976, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Best Known For: Clueless (1996-1999), 7th Heaven (2002-2004), You Me Her (2016-2020)
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “In my memories of the first season, there was so much joy in the house,” Blanchard shared. “It was really fun to shoot those scenes with everybody. And there weren’t scenes like that this season, obviously, because Susannah’s not around and it’s not in the summer for the most part. It was sad.”
David Iacono
Character Played: “Cam” Cameron
Born: June 20, 2002, Brooklyn, New York
Best Known For: Grand Army (2020) and The Flight Attendant (2020-2022). He is also set to appear in Jurassic World: Rebirth in 2025.
Thoughts on The Summer I Turned Pretty: “I was so excited,” Iacono shares about returning for season 2. “I honestly wasn’t expecting to get that call because Cam is not in the second or third book. So, I was very, very pleasantly surprised.”